Blend of melamine-formaldehyde and aniline-formaldehyde-cresol or-xylenol resins



Patented Sept. 26, 1950 UNITED isr rEs PATENT YOFFICE BLEND F MELAMINE-FORMALDEHYDE AND ANILINE-FORMALDEHYDE-CRESOL 0R -XYLENOL RESINS Paul C. Schroy, Corpus Christi, Tex, Joseph Grabowski, Stamford, Conn.,

and Milton J. Scott,

Springfield, Mass., assignors to American Cyanamid Company, New Yo of Maine rk, N. Y., a corporation Serial No. 578,955

' No Drawing. Application February 20, 1945,

6 Claims. 01. 2 0-45) This invention relates to compositions suitable for molding and is more particularly concerned with the production'of moldings possessing good" electrical properties and In the use of plastics for electrical applications,

dimensional stability.

inspite of the other valuable properties, moldings made from suchcompositions retained the disadvantage ofthe melamine component which is it has been found that the various thermosetting resins are generally lacking in one or more respects and are unsuitable for many applications. 1

the moldings are usually made withmetal inserts and good dimensional For electrical purposes,

stabilityof the molding is a prerequisite since undue after-shrinkage molding and loosening the melamine resins will cause cracking of the of the metal-inserts there-,

by substantially detracting from the value of the molding. The phenolic molding compounds gen-'- erally have satisfactory dimensional stability, but are lacking in electrical properties such as are resistance. The amino-plastics such as the urea and melamine resins have good electrical properties (i. e. are resistance), but the'molded articles made from such compositions tend to shrink and, when metal inserts are used, may crack around these inserts.

It is one of the objects of this-inventiontomoldcompounded with suitable fillers such as calcined (heat-treated) asbestos.

The melamine-formaldehyde resins have the outstanding property of being hardenable to the finally cured stage in the presence of the alkaline reacting asbestos. Thus the important field of asbestos molding compositions can be enlarged by the compositions containing melamine resins as a. binder. However, it was found'that be molded with metal common to all amino-plastic compositions, namely, having a high shrinkage, especially at elevated temperature. We havefound that by modifying with a, rather small proportion of aniline resins this disadvantage is overcome.

The. following examples in which parts are given by weight,- are for purposes of illustrating the invention which is not limited to the details .set forth. The zinc stearate used in the following examples may be omitted or replaced in whole or-in part by othermold is 40% formaldehydev weight. 1

lubricants. The Formalin by volume or 37.5% by EXAMPLE 1 196 parts of melamine-formaldehyde resin A (ratio 1:2 molsi' 42 parts of aniline-shellac-formaldehyde resin 0 42 parts of aniline-cresol-formaldehyde resin B 7 parts of zinc stearate 4 parts of #115 grade chrysotile asbestos 'The resins are separately prepared as fine-ground powders. The asbestos used has preferably been heated at around 1200 F. for about minutes. The mixture of the several ingredients as listed is blended and compounded on hot differential rolls. After-the desired degree of compounding is obtained, the relatively thin sheets coming off the rolls are cooled and broken up to pass a /8 inch screen. This product is suitable for a molding composition.

Molded articles are prepared in the customary manner by placing the desired amount of the molding composition in a suitable mold, with or typical molding operation by heating at a temperature 0f'150160 C. for 5-10 minutes under a pressure of about 3000 lbs/square inch.

A typical molded a Dialect I ovstrer laielect'ric no ac o t are Re- Strength Shrinkage r OHS ant sistance (v./mil) (8 hrs. at a ASTM 220 F.) cycles sec. mils/in.

25 0. 0. Percent Compound of Examplel 416 391 2.0 15.2 11.7 Melamine-formaldehyde Compound 100 412 303 5.5 23.0 17.0

040 parts of asbestos (heat-treated) v I This composition is mixed and blended on hot Preparation melamine-formaldehyde resin A In a typical example or this resin, 63 parts of melamine and 85 parts or Formalin (40% ume) are heated to a reflux at a pH of 6.8 (bromthymol-blue) obtained with sodium hydroxide.

by vol- The resin syrup is then cooled to 75 C. and

maintained at this temperature until it shows slight hydrophobidity on adding a few drops to ice water. At this hydrophobe point, the pH is adjusted to 8.3 (thymol blue). Following this the syrup is concentrated at a vacuum of 20 inches of mercury until the temperature reaches 115 C., whereupon the resin is withdrawn from the kettle to cool. The cooled resin is ground to a fine powder.

Preparation of aniline-cresol-formaldehyde resin B In an example for the preparation of this resin, 78 parts of aniline and 30 parts of cresol are heated together to 100 C. and then cooled to room temperature. Following this, 90 parts of Formalin (40% by volume) are slowly added with cooling. After all the Formalin has been added a catalyst composed of 0.57 part of concentrated sulfuric acid (95.5%) and 14 parts of water is added, and the whole reaction mixture refluxed for two hours. Following the reflux period, the product is vacuum-concentrated until a final temperature of 120 C. at a vacuum of 27 to 28 inches is reached. Thereupon the resin is withdrawn from the kettle, allowed to cool and ground to a fine powder.

The cresol used above is the conventional cresol used commercially and it is a mixture including I all of the isomers of cresol sold as Resin Cresol No. 8 by the Barrett Company and, according to the manufacturer, it contains approximately of o-cresol, 45% of mcresol, 30% of p-cresol, 3% of phenol and 17% of xylenols. A-commercial mixture substantially free of o-cresoland containing substantially only m-cresol and p-cresol (equal proportions v vgives somewhat improved results.

Preparation of anilineeshellqc-forinaldehrde resin C The method of preparation of thisresin'issimi lar to the aniline-cresol resin B, except that,30

parts of shellac are substituted forthe cresol. (glass electrode) by the addition-oi sodium hydroxide. The resulting syrup is vacuum concen- 'trated at a temperature of' 85 C. or higher.

EXAMPLE 2 112 .parts of melamine-formaldehyde resin TA;

48 parts of aniline-shellacformaldehyde resin C 4'parts of zinc steal-ate rolls as described in Example 1.

' EXAMPLE 3 4 parts of zinc stearate 1 240 partsof asbestos (calcined) This composition ismixed and blended on 'hot rolls as described in Example 1.

This composition is mixed and blended onhot 5 rolls as described in Example 1.-

112 parts of melamine-formaldehyde resinjA 48 parts of aniline-phenol-formaldehyde resin B Generally speaking, at least of the resin I degree of polymerization of p the melamine resin may also be varied in accordance with the properties desired for the finished compositions.

In place of part or all ofv the melamine, there may be substituted other triazines such as phenyl melamines, also dicyanidamide or mixtures thereof. In some cases, thiourea or urea resins may be included in the compositions.

EXAMPLE 5 196 parts of dicyandiamid'e-formaldehyde resin D 42 parts of aniline-shellacformaldehyde resin C 42 parts of aniline-cresol-formaldehyde resin B 7 parts of zinc stearate 420 parts of asbestos (heat-treated) on hot This resin may be prepared by mixing 91 parts dicyandiamide with 175 parts Formalin by volume) and adjusting by addition of a solution of sodium hydroxide.

The mixture is heated to reflux in /2 hour and is cooled'to C. in about 10 minutes when the solution is vacuum concentrated at 20 inches of mercury until the temperature of the batchreaches 98 C. -At this point the molten resin is withdrawn, cooled and the solid resin formed is ground to a fine powder.

EXAMPLE In place of all or part of resin A in Example 1,

' ther may be substituted a .resin prepared as Jfollows:

To 600 parts of Formalin (40%by volume) is added 266 parts of 'a. mixture of phenyl melamines prepared by' reacting aniline withjdicyan .diamide. The resulting mixture is heated to reflux in about hour and'the pH is set .at'8.3

When the temperaturereaches C. at a vacuum of 41 cc. of mercury, the batch-is withdrawn,- allowed to cool and the solid resin is ground to J a powder.

Thedry amine resins and dry aminotriazine resins are preferably-blended together with the filler, but we may also mix the separately pre-' pared resin syrups, dehydrate the mixtur 'and 'mix the resulting dry resin with the filler- .The aniline resins described maybe replaced- 7 by other suitable resins such as those prepared 7' cases the aniline resins are chilled before; they? are ground. Inplace of the-aniline other re-.

from aniline and formaldehyde,v aniline and fur-furaldehyde, with or without other modifyingingredients.

In order that these resins beinost suitable for use in accordance with the present "invention, they should benon-crystalline, dry,

grindable compounds capable of softening during the blending operationon the hot rolls. Insoine active aromatic amines such as toluidine maybe used. Where modifying'ingredients are used for to pH 8.6 (glass electrode) the amine resin, the shellac can be replaced by rosin or the like or by synthetic lactides. Likewise, phenol or other substituted phenols may be used in place of part or all of the cresols, e. g. the xylenols. The amine resin or resins preferably form at least about 5% of the resinous portion of our compositions and may be present in an amount equivalent to about 70%. Approximately 30%-40% of the amine resins is most generally suitable. It has been found that the cure of the amine resin-aminotriazine resin mixture may be influenced by alkalies.

Th fillers which are incorporated in th molding compositions may also be varied in that part or all of the asbestos may be replaced by wood meal, wood flour, cotton flock, alpha cellulose,

mica, glass fibers, and other fibrous or mineral fillers or mixtures thereof. The use of cotton flock and asbestos in ratios between about 1:9 and 2:3 is especially desirable for obtaining a combination of heat resistance, electrical properties, and impact strength. Such a composition as that in Example 4 may be modified in this way by replacing 25% of the asbestos with cotton fiock. The fillers may be in woven or otherwise fabricated form.

The molding compositions of the present invention are especially valuable for making molded parts for motor magnetos, distributors and other ignition parts to replace the more commonly used hard rubber which lacks heat resistance or the molded phenolic compositions which lack arc resistance. Terminal blocks which were previously made from various compositions with generally unsatisfactory results can now be hot molded with the instant compositions by the use of heat and pressure to give products having high dielectric properties stability.

As has been described, the electrical properties of articles prepared from the present compositions are excellent. These properties may be further enhanced by heating the molded parts, a procedure which may be referred to as stoving. Thus molded articles prepared as in Example 1 are seen to have a power factor of 15.2%. If these molded articles are stoved by heating between about 220 F. and 300 F. for 8-24 hours, power factors of about 4% to 6% are obtained. As has also been described, our compositions are especially valuable for being molded by the com pression mold technique wherein the molding composition is placed in the mold and is there shaped under heat and pressure. Our compositions are also extremely valuable for transfer molding, wherein the composition is separately heated in a suitable chamber or the like and is then forced under pressure into the mold which shapes the finished article. The compositions of the present invention are generally suitable for use in extrusion molding processes.

In some cases it may be desired to prepare transparent moldings in which event the fillers are omitted and, if necessary, the resins are subjected to a partial polymerization treatment prior to the actual molding.

Our resins can be spread on any carrier of inorganic or organic nature such as for instance on paper, asbestos paper, canvas, asbestos cloth, glass cloth, mixed cotton and glass cloth, etc., and

and good dimensional position which can be heat and pressure molded to form a molded article having good dimensional stability and good electrical properties, which comprises blending a filler with a resin mixture consisting essentially of a separately prepared and relatively finely ground fusible melamine-formaldehyde resin and a separately prepared and relatively finely ground fusible aniline-methylsubstituted phenol-formaldehyde. resin prepared with substantial amounts of aniline and the phenol, said phenol having from 1 to 2 methyl groups,

the melamine resin comprising about 95-30% of a v the total weight of said resins and the aniline resin correspondingly comprising about 23-70% of the total weight of said resins.

2. The process of preparing a molding composition which can be heat and pressure molded to form a molded article having good dimensional stability and good electrical properties, which comprises blending a filler with a resin mixture consisting essentially of a separately prepared and relatively finely ground fusible melamineformaldehyde resin and a separately prepared and relatively finely ground fusible aniline-cresol-formaldehyde resin prepared with substantial amounts of aniline and the cresol, the melamine resin comprising about 95-30% of the total weight of said resins and the aniline resin correspondingly comprising about 5-70% of the total weight of said resins.

3. A molding composition which can be heat and pressure molded to form a molded article having good dimensional stability and good electrical properties which comprises a filler and a resin mixture consisting essentially of a separately prepared and relatively finely ground, fusible melamine-formaldehyde resin and a separately prepared and relatively finely ground, fusible aniline-methyl substituted phenol-formaldehyde resin prepared with substantial amounts of aniline and the phenol, said phenol having from 1 to 2 methyl groups, the melamine resin comprising about 95-30% of the total weight of said resins and the aniline resin correspondingly comprising about 5-'7'O% of the total weight of said resins.

4. A molding composition which can be heat and pressure molded to form a molded article having good dimensional stability and good electrical properties which comprises a filler and a resin mixture consisting essentially of a separately prepared and relatively finely ground, fusible melamine-formaldehyde resin and a separately prepared and relatively finely ground, fusible aniline-cresol-formaldehyde resin prepared with substantial amounts of aniline and the cresol, the melamine resin comprising about 95-30% of the total Weight of said resins and the aniline resin correspondingly comprising about 570% of the total weight of said resins.

5. A molding composition which can be heat and pressure molded to form a molded article having good dimensional stability and good electrical r] thermoset molded article.

PAUL C. SCHROY. JOSEPH GRABOWSKI. MILTON J. SCOTT.

' 8 REFERENCES crrED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'IENTS Number Name Date 1,873,799 Vacher Aug. 23, 1932 1,955,731 Bender Apr. 24,- 1934 1,994,753 Cherry Mar 19, 1935 2,197,357 Widmer et a1 Apr. 16, 1940 2,262,728 Swain et a1 Nov. 11, 1941 2,325,375 DAlello July 27, 1943 2,368,451 DAlelio Jan. 30, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 118,408 Australia Apr. 17, 1944 557,558 Great Britain Nov. 25, 1943 

1. THE PROCESS OF PREPARING A MOLDING COMPOSITION WHICH CAN BE HEAT AND PRESSURE MOLDED TO FORM A MOLDED ARTICLE HAVING GOOD DIMENSIONAL STABILITY AND GOOD ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES, WHICH COMPRISES BLENDING A FILLER WITH A RESIN MIXTURE CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF A SEPARATELY PREPARED AND RELATIVELY FINELY GROUND FUSIBLE MELAMINE-FORMALDEHYDE RESIN AND A SEPARATELY PREPARED AND RELATIVELY FINELY GROUND FUSIBLE ANILINE-METHYL SUBSTITUTED PHENOL-FORMALDEHYDE RESIN PREPARED WITH SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNTS OF ANILINE AND THE PHENOL, SAID PHENOL HAVING FROM 1 TO 2 METHYL GROUPS, THE MELAMINE RESIN COMPRISING ABOUT 95-30% OF THE TOTAL WEIGHT OF SAID RESINS AND THE ANILINE RESIN CORRESPONDINGLY COMPRISING ABOUT 5-70% OF THE TOTAL WEIGHT OF SAID RESINS. 